Rail-joint



H. F ROACH.

RAIL JOINT.-

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 16, 1920- Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

Z i fox NZ M WM m HARRY F. ROACH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

Application filed March 16, 1920. Serial No. 366,206.

To a whom it may concern.

Be it known that 'I, HARRY F. ROAOH, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to rail joints of the type known commercially asRoach joints or Roach bars. wherein the joint members are providedintermediate their ends with rail engaging portions so constructed andarranged that the terminals of the rails fulcrum on the joint membersunder load. thereby permitting the wave motion of the rails throughoutthe track to be continued uniformly through the joints of the track.

One object of my present invention is to provide a rail joint of thetype above referred to in which the joint members are of such designthat the fulcrum points of the rails on said members can be maintainedat a predetermined point-or within a predetermined zone, regardless ofthe wear on the portions of the joint members that bear against theheads and the base flanges of the rails.

Another object is to provide a rail joint member or bar of the kind justreferred to, which is equipped with means that tends to prevent thematerial in the rail engaging portions of the member from flowing whenthe joint member is in service.

And still another object is to provide an inexpensive and eflicientone-piece rail joint member or bar of the Roach type that can be forgedeasily or formed from a rolled member by shearing oft portions of saidmember and punching bolt holes in the same either in one operation or insuccessive operations.

Figure l of the drawings is a side elevational view of a rail jointconstructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view, showing one of the joint members in end elevation andthe other oint member in vertical cross section; and

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of one of the joint members.

Referring to the drawings which illusv trate the preferred form of myinvention, A designates two members or bars that are arranged onopposite sides of. two abutting rails B, and C designates bolts thatpass transversely through the webs of the rails and thiiough the jointmembers A so as to hold said joint members in operative engagement withthe rails. Each of the members A is provided intermediate itsends withtwo rail engaging portions 1 that bear against the undersigles of theheads of the rails and against the upper sides of the base flanges ofthe rails, the rail engaging por- The novelty of my present inventionconsists in forming the rail engaging portions 1 of each joint member insuch a manner- (1) That the fulcrumpoints of the rails on the jointmembers canbe maintained at a predetermined point or within apredetermined Zone;

(2) That the tendency of the material in the rail engaging portions 1 ofthe joint merlnber to flow, is reduced to a minimum; anc

' Thatthe member A can be forged easily or formed from a rolled memberby shearing off portions of the rolled member and punching bolt holes inthe same in one operation or in successive operations.

As shown in the drawings, the member A consists of a bar, preferably ofthe cross section shown in Fig. 2, whose end portions are of less depthor height than the intermediate portion of the bar, which comprises therail engaging portions 1 that bear against the heads and the baseflanges of the rails. The upper and lower edges of the end portions ofthe member A, namely, the portions lying between the rail engagingportions 1 and the ends of the member, may be parallel and spaced awayfrom the he. ds and base flanges of the rails, or they may be slightlyinclined, as shown in Fig. 1. Said upper and a lower edges are soformed, however, that they do not form ('ontinuations of the surfaces atthe upper and lower edges of the deep inter meriate portion of themember A that bear against the undersides of the heads and against theupper sides of the base flanges of the rails In other words, the member1!.

7 of the end portions of the same do not merge into the surfaces on thedeep intermediate portion of the member that bear against the rails. Theobject of constructing the member A in this manner is to eliminate thepossibility of the length of the rail engaging surfaces on the portions1 increasing, as said surfaces wear away, and thus causing the fulcrumpoints of the rails on the member A to move outwardly away from .thecenter of the joint. For example, if the member A were provided at itscenter withrail engaging portions having surfaces that merged into theupper and lower edges of the end portions of the member A, the length ofthe rail engaging surfaces of the member that contacted with the headsand base flanges of the rails would increase as said surfaces wore away,due, of course, to the fact that the upper and lower edges of the endportions of the'member formed continuations of said rail engagingsurfaces, thus resulting in the fulcrum points of the rails on the jointmembers moving outwardly toward :the ends of the joint.

In a rail joint of the Roach type it is highly desirable to maintainthe. fulcrum points of the rails within certain predetermined limits,regardless of the wear on the rail engaging portions of the jointmembers. \This is possible with a joint member or bar of theconstruction herein shown on account of the fact that the intermediateportion of the bar that contains the rail engaging portions 1 is soproportioned with relation to the end portions of the bar that the railengaging surfaces of the portions 1 do not merge into the upper andlower edges of the end.porti0ns of the bar. Stated in another way, thejoint member A herein illustrated is provided with rail engagingportions 1 whose rail contacting surfaces are located high enough abovethe upper edges of the end portion of the member and far enough belowthe lower edges of the end portion of the member to eliminate thepossibility of said. rail contacting surfaces in creasing in length, dueto said surfaces wearing way and gradually merging into the upper andlower edges of the end portions of the member A.

In practice I prefer to form fillets l at the ends of the rail engagingportions 1. so as to tend to prevent the material in said rail engagingportions 1 from flowing toward the ends of the joint or mashing down,due to the presure which is imposed on the rail engaging portions 1 whenthe member A is in service. These fillets 1 not only tend to eliminatemashing down of the ends of the rail engaging portions 1. but theyreinforce and strengthen the member A at the points where the relativelyshallow end portions of the member branch laterally from the deep vofsaid rolled member to form a member A of the shapeherein illustrated,the bolt holes in said member being punched simultaneously with theshearing operation or by a separate and distinct operation.

A rail joint member of the construction 4 above described has all of thedesirable characteristics of the Roach rail joint or bar now incommercial use in addition to the features previously pointed out. 1

Having thus described my invention, wha I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A rail joint member or bar having its end portions spaced away fromthe heads and base flanges of the rails so as to permit the rails tofulcrum on said member and provided intermediate its ends with railengaging portions so designed that the length of the same will notincrease when the rail contacting surfaces on said portions wear. away.V

2. A'rail joint member or bar having its end portions spaced away fromthe heads and base flanges of the rails so as to permit the rails tofulcrum on said member and provided intermediate its ends with integralrail engaging portions whose rail contacting surfaces do not merge intothe upper and lower edges of the end portions of said member.

3. A rail joint member or bar having its end portions spaced away fromthe heads and base flanges of the rails so as to permit the rails tofulcrum on said member and providedintermediate its ends with integralrail engaging portions that are adapted to bear against the heads andthe base flanges of the rails and means that tends to prevent thematerial in said rail engaging portions from flowing when the member isin service.

4. A rail joint member or bar having its end portions spaced away fromthe heads and base flanges of the rails so as to permit the rails tofulcrum on said member, and a relatively deep intermediate portion onsaid member provided with surfaces that bear .against'the undersides ofthe heads and against the upper sides of the base flanges of the rails,the upper and lower edges of the end portions of said member being sodisposed with relation to the rail contacting surfaces of saidintermediate portion that the length of said rail contacting surfaceswill not increase as said surfaces wear away.

5. A rail joint member or bar formed in one piece and providedintermediate its ends with a relatively deep portion having surfacesthereon that bear against the undersides of the heads and against theupper sides of the base flanges of the rails, the top and bottom edgesof\the end portions of said member being so designed that no portions ofthe same contact with the heads and base flanges of the rails during thelife of the member.

6. A rail joint member or bar having its end portions spaced away fromthe heads. and base flanges of the rails so as to permit the rails tofulcrum on said member and provided intermediate its ends with railengaging portions that project above and below the upper and loweredges, respectivel ofthe end portions of said member, and f1 letslocated at the ends of said rail engaging portions.

7. A rail joint member or bar consisting of a rolled member having anintermediate portion of such cross section that the upper and loweredges of the same will bear against the undersides of the heads and theupper sides of the base flanges of therails, the upper and lower edgeportions of the parts of said member which lie on opposite sides of saidintermediate portion being sheared off so as to provide sufficientclearance between the edges of the end portions of said member and theheads and base flanges of the rails to permit the rails to rockvertically under load.

HARRY F. ROAGH.

